DPP working on white paper on ‘green’ energy

By Chris Wang / Staff reporter

Thu, Jul 11, 2013 - Page 4

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is working on a “green” energy white paper which seeks a 20 percent renewable energy target by 2025 and the creation of 200,000 green jobs, the party said yesterday.

A draft of the paper, prepared by a DPP think tank, was passed in a weekly meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee yesterday and laid out a “25-20-20” vision for the country’s energy future, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.

The think tank began working on the white paper after a committee resolution on April 3 demanded that the party formulate its policy on green energy development.

Lin quoted DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as saying in the meeting that the party had made a green economy, sustainable development and energy security the DPP’s core energy policy values.

Citing the example of Germany, where renewable energy output tripled between 2001 and 2011 and exceeded 20 percent of the total electricity production, Su said the DPP’s goal was realistic.

The chairman was quoted as saying the commitment of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration to sustainable energy was questionable as renewable energy accounted for only 3.56 percent of the nation’s total electricity output in 2011, which was lower than the 3.57 percent in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the party remains dedicated to its pledge of achieving a nuclear-free homeland, Lin said, adding that the DPP would do whatever it takes to stop the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).